On 3 July, the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) audited how four companies used Google Analytics for web statistics and issued administrative fines against two of the companies:
Companies must stop using Google Analytics (imy.se)
On 6 July, Google updated its privacy policy to disclose that its various AI services, such as Bard and Cloud AI, may be trained on public data that the company has scraped from the web:
Google confirms it’s training AI using scraped web data - The Verge
On 7 July, the UK government finalised the first law enforcement data adequacy decision. It means UK law enforcement authorities will be able to transfer personal data to authorities in the Bailiwick of Guernsey for law enforcement purposes:
UK finalises first law enforcement data adequacy decision - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
On 5 July, two authors filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books:
Authors file a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books | Books | The Guardian
On 12 July, CNN published the findings of a congressional investigation that found that some of America’s largest tax-prep companies have spent years sharing Americans’ sensitive financial data with tech titans including Meta and Google in a potential violation of federal law — data that in some cases was misused for targeted advertising:
Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds | CNN Business
On 13 July, the Washington Post reported that the Federal Trade Commission has opened an expansive investigation into OpenAI, probing whether the maker of the popular ChatGPT bot has run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk:
The FTC investigates OpenAI over data leak and ChatGPT's inaccuracy - The Washington Post
On 15 July, an Observer investigation found that Britain’s biggest police force gathered sensitive data about people using its website to report sexual offences, domestic abuse and other crimes and shared it with Facebook for targeted advertising:
Revealed: Metropolitan police shared sensitive data about crime victims with Facebook | Metropolitan police | The Guardian
On 20 July, the BBC reported that Apple plans to remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon:
Apple slams UK surveillance-bill proposals - BBC News
On 21 July, the White House published a fact sheet about the Biden-Harris Administration securing voluntary commitments from leading artificial intelligence companies to manage the risks posed by AI:
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Secures Voluntary Commitments from Leading Artificial Intelligence Companies to Manage the Risks Posed by AI | The White House
On 25 July, the BBC reported on the launch of a cryptocurrency project described as being "dystopian":
Worldcoin: Sam Altman launches eyeball scanning crypto coin - BBC News
&
Indulge